Today's the day that all the stuff gets done so that I can walk out of the house tomorrow at 5 a.m. (gasp!) and head on out to Phoenix. T - 1 and counting.

Those of us old enough to remember sitting in front of the TV and watching the countdowns remember the sound of Houston, counting down the hours, minutes, seconds. Men were going to space (God speed, John Glenn), the Moon. Mars next. Not.

Anyway, today is my own personal T - 1 day. It wouldn't be such a big deal, except that I can't handle the heat, not heat in the 80's and definitely not 110's. So I'm making all the preparations I can and hoping for the best.

The hotel has a fitness room (a/c, of course) so I can do my morning walking there. The problem comes in walking back and forth from the hotel to the convention center. It's only three blocks, but....

I have hat, and parasol, and water, and comfortable shoes. Ready, set, go!